[fanatomy] close encounters of the fan kind

Some fandoms are notorious for certain behaviors that even if we should not generalize, the presence of a few rotten tomatoes can really ruin a group reputation. It gets worse when those few rotten ones are the noisiest in social media because that can influence the way the fandom they represent is perceived.

Differences in opinion and behavior among fans within the same fandom cannot be avoided of course given that fandoms are like a melting pot, a place where people from different ethnicity, religions, values and upbringing come together over something in common: music, drama, film, idol, actor/actress, anime, manga, fashion… the list is long.

I can attest to this. I have made friends from across the world thanks to my fandoms. I have even met some of them and have had the privilege to get to know some beyond fangirling. And that also made me realize how different we all are and such differences make us react to things and handle situations in different ways. There is no one singular way to react to or handle a particular issue and at the end of the day, we can all just agree to disagree.

But there are just certain ugly fandom behavior that perhaps we can agree as being disagreeable. And these are the ones that give fandoms a bad rep.

Are you one of these?

The Akgae
They only support a member, not the group. They want their idol to leave the group because they believe this is just preventing them from reaching their full potential. Also, their idol is the most talented in the group and should be credited for the group’s success. All the other members are just a bunch of lazy bones riding on the coattails of their idol.

The Bully
Anything that goes against their “norms” will warrant “fan shaming.” These “violations” could range from being deemed not supportive enough of your idol, not tweeting enough, not clicking enough, not spazzing/flailing enough, not agreeing with them enough. And if you commit the mistake of expressing a dissenting view, well then, good luck. You’d suddenly find yourself transported to grade school and experience the wrath of The Bully and their gang of bully friends.

The Oppalogist (also The Unnielogist)
Oppa can do no wrong and anyone who says otherwise is evil. Why does the world wrong oppa so much? He’s innocent, he’s an angel, a saint! He does not know anything!!! Everyone is at fault but their idol.

The Cleanser
It may be a stretch to call it ethnic cleansing but there are fans who want to “cleanse” fandoms of “undesirable” fans. Being undesirable could mean many things: a pesky shipper, an akgae (of another idol, not theirs), a “fake fan”. “xxx does not need fans like you!” They celebrate every “departure” of fans and probably believe that it only means “more oppa for me.” On their very strong but few backs now lie oppa’s dreams of conquering the pop world.

The Supreme
The Supreme, obviously, has superiority complex. They stan “legends.” They stan “talent.” The rest of the fans stan unremarkable people. And anyone who doesn’t stan their idol is missing out on God’s gift to pop culture, what a pitiful life.

The Delulu
There are delusions and then there are DELUSIONS. There’s nothing wrong with delusions for fun and if kept within a group of like-minded people. But the moment these delusions are thrown out into the world, well then, don’t be surprised and hurt if they are debunked. How to spot The Delulu: one who spread their fan fiction as gospel truth beyond the planks of their ship, insist on them and use the “I-know-it-all” tone and you’re stupid if you don’t believe. They are truly convinced about their delusions and their favorite hobby is coming up with conspiracy theories.

The Warfreak
The fandom’s foot soldier who has made it their life mission to defend their idols from any threat. They monitor what the “enemies” are saying and are prepared to go to war at a tweet’s notice. It won’t be a surprise if The Bully are members of their ranks.

To be fair, not everyone in fandoms are sociopaths or psychopaths. There are those who do make fandoms a nice, warm and happy place. I’m not saying that fandoms should be a utopia but why do we become fans anyway and pursue it as a hobby or activity? Whatever our reasons are, I’m pretty sure none would say they became a fan to fight or bully other fans.

Neither did we become fans to bring shame to our idols. Let it not be said, “tell me your idol and I’ll tell you what kind of fan you are.”